In coin sorters of the foregoing type, coins are carried on a resilient disc rotating beneath a stationary sorting head which manipulates the coins through queuing, sorting and ejection movements. In most such sorters the coins are all initially queued so that the outer edges of coins of all denominations are located at a common radial position, relative to the center of rotation of the disc. This causes the inner edges of coins of different denominations to be located at different radial positions determined by the coin denomination (diameter), which are used to sort the coins.
To avoid missorting of coins that are not properly queued, it is typical to provide a recycle channel between the queuing region and the sorting region of the sorting head. This recycle channel intercepts the coins that are improperly queued and returns them to the entry region of the sorting head for re-queuing. It has been found, however, that certain coin combinations can bypass the recycle channel and still cause missorts. For example, a small thin coin following a large thick coin may pass beneath the recycle channel because the small coin rests on a portion of the surface of the resilient disc that is depressed by the large coin. Also, certain conditions can cause the recycle channel to become "flooded" with coins, so that certain of the improperly queued coins ride over other coins already in the recycle channel.